These 20-Under-40 Up-and-Coming Printing Industry Executives Share Their Success Stories

One look at our 20-under-40 list of up-and-coming printing industry executives reveals several truisms. One, the family-owned printing company is not under siege; subsequent generations of men and women are being entrusted to continue the mom-and-pop shop (though we generally don't think of multimillion-dollar companies in mom-and-pop terms).

Secondly, there is a solid core of young men and women at the helm of longstanding, successful companies. Not all of them were destined to become printers, but gradually each saw a path to a prosperous future in an industry that combines old-world craftsmanship with cutting-edge, modern technologies.

So sit back, kick off your shoes and get engrossed in 20 examples of why the printing industry is in good hands for the forseeable future. We think you'll agree.

John Gadd, 28
President and CEO
Hotcards.com
Cleveland

John Gadd was destined to set the world on fire, even if he had to burn a few people in the process—which isn't as bad as it sounds, but then again, maybe it is.

The president and CEO of Hotcards.com in Cleveland got his start right out of high school, when a family friend asked him to try a little cold calling at Graphco, a printing equipment dealership also located in Cleveland. Being a tech junkie, Gadd felt the printing industry was the perfect target for some 21st century disruption, especially with the onset of the World Wide Web.

Then again, perhaps Gadd was simply destined to become an entrepreneur of one flavor or another, with successful startups in the software, printing and marketing industries. He launched his first startup, flozio.com, at the age of 22, and went on to raise more than $5 million in angel and venture capital. Gadd and a few partners formed Quez Media Marketing, then founded Gadd Corp., which counseled C-level executives at Internet, graphic arts and marketing concerns.